Statement by Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Korea on Japanese Foreign Minister’s Remarks Regarding Dokdo in Foreign Policy Speech

The government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government's repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo in the Japanese Foreign Minister's foreign policy speech at the National Diet of Japan on February 20. The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims.

The ROK government makes it clear once again that the Japanese government's unjust claims do not and will not have any impact on the ROK's sovereignty over Dokdo and that it will respond firmly to any provocation over Dokdo.

The Japanese government should be clearly aware that repeatedly making unjust claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory historically, geographically and under international law, is in no way conducive to the efforts to establish a future-oriented relationship between the ROK and Japan.